It could be a weekend of firsts for the Giallorossi as they travel to the Marassi to take on Genoa. After taking just two points and scoring only one goal in the first three matches of the 2024-2025 campaign, Roma returns from the international break in desperate need of a win. The Giallorossi need to get the offense clicking and start winning matches to jumpstart their season. And since the last time Roma took the pitch, there have been some major happenings on the mercato, namely the arrivals of Mats Hummels and Mario Hermoso on free transfers.
The two veteran center backs arrive to great fanfare and amplify the depth at center back to a great extent. Suddenly, Daniele De Rossi has four quality options to start, which has led many to conclude that a back-three is a likely choice for Roma moving forward. And while De Rossi hasn’t confirmed or denied this, we will likely see a mix of four- and three-man back lines moving forward.
In the prematch press conference, De Rossi was asked about his two new signings and their importance but was ambiguous about whether or not they’d start on Sunday.
“They certainly give us more strings to our bow, more options. Their experience bolsters the team – they’ve played in the Champions League, at the highest level. I watched them and liked their football. Before they signed they told me that they were in good shape and that’s proved to be the case from what I’ve seen of them here. This always counts for a lot.
“Obviously they need some time to get to the top of their game, and we’ll evaluate this with every passing matchday. They’re ready to play but we’ll see how many minutes they’re capable of, and whether they can start, play the full 90, or feature here and there.
“From next week onwards we’ll be playing every three days. We’ll need to be able to call upon everyone in the squad. That’s what I’m telling the players and that’s what I firmly believe. We’ll need plenty of hands on deck – it won’t be a case of thinking about who’s getting how many minutes. We’ll need to call on everyone and we’ll be doing so as soon as possible.”
However, projections indicate Hermoso will center a back-three with Gianluca Mancini and Evan Ndicka. Alexis Saelemaekers on the right and Angeliño on the left will play the wing-back roles. Those two are expected to flank a redesigned midfield.
Lorenzo Pellegrini, who picked up a minor knock while playing for Italy, is expected to be available but isn’t currently projected to start. In fact, it looks as if Manu Kone and Tommaso Baldanzi, who had superb performances over the international break, will get their first start in the young season. Those two are expected to flank Bryan Crisante in the central midfield.
When asked about his role, De Rossi also praised the Frenchman but also defended his incumbent midfield trio.
“We chose to sign Kone based on his characteristics, not just his position. He played both as a right-sided and left-sided midfielder and in front of the defence for his national team at the Olympics - I watched him in every game. He’s got the skillset that we were looking for. He’s the kind of player who frees up the others. He frees us to play with even more attack-minded players in midfield, and for me that’s important. Bear in mind that without Kone last season we won many games. [Leandro] Paredes, [Bryan] Cristante and [Lorenzo] Pellegrini sometimes get less respect in this city than they deserve.
“In the last six months we’ve been averaging two points a game in Serie A. That’s not what we dreamed of but it’s what we aimed for in that moment in time, with a team of Paredes, Cristante and Pellegrini, as well as [Edoardo] Bove, [Houssem] Aouar, Renato [Sanches] and the rest. Paredes, Cristante and Pellegrini are important players and will contribute a lot to this team.
“I was really keen to sign Kone and he’ll be a huge player for us, but in the meantime we respect those who’ve been here toiling away for many seasons. They’ve had some off days but they’ve performed really well on many occasions. Then there’s the matter that everyone has their favourites and tastes. Let’s make our players feel loved. As for the stats, they point to the fact that as a team we’ve done little in recent seasons as we’ve always ended up sixth, but we’ve always performed well in terms of goals and distances covered on the pitch. There are numbers that not everyone knows about. People will say ‘this guy doesn’t run, that guy is slow’, but you should check out the GPS data to find out who really runs and who doesn’t run.”
In his presser, De Rossi was also asked about Artem Dovbyk, who picked up a minor knock over the international break but looks set to be ready.
“He’s ready to play and he will play – he’s a very important player for us. He’s our striker and we’ve placed a lot of trust in him.”
With Dovbyk ready to start, the Ukrainian looks likely to be paired with Paulo Dybala in the 3-5-2.
ROMA (3-5-2): Svilar; Mancini, Hermoso, N’Dicka; Saelemaekers, Koné, Cristante, Baldanzi, Angelino; Dybala, Dovbyk.
It kicks off at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, commonly known as Marassi, at 11.30 UK time (10.30 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s five Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.
There had been multiple reports that the Giallorossi would give Mario Hermoso his first start after the signing as a free agent, but instead Angelino is moved into the back three, with Alexis Saelemaekers and Stephan El Shaarawy as wing-backs.
“Honestly, Hermoso is ready to play, but with a new stadium, new league, I wanted to give him time. We played many times with this defence and I am more confident having him start on home turf, but he will be coming off the bench today,” De Rossi told DAZN.
He has been known to switch between the 4-3-3 formation and 3-5-2, choosing the latter this afternoon to counter-act Alberto Gilardino’s Genoa in a similar tactical approach.
“The statistics show that Genoa let you play in their half, but you mustn’t lose the ball, because they will be very direct and attacking. I like to play with three at the back and very attacking wing-backs, but you can alternate and have wing-backs who are practically full-backs against teams with different characteristics. We can alternate.
“El Shaarawy started the season with a few difficulties, but has shown great improvement recently and so it was right to give him that chance.”
Roma fans were shaken this week by comments from legend Totti, who said his status in the city could be seen as ‘cumbersome’ for the club and that De Rossi acted as a ‘lightning rod’ for any criticism.
“Francesco’s words always hit the headlines, especially in Rome, because when he talks, everyone turns to listen,” said the coach and his former teammate.
“We have to focus on the game. I would only note he said he’d give an arm for me and I feel the same about him.”
De Rossi discussed his selection for today’s afternoon fixture with Genoa at the Marassi.
The Roma technician was interviewed by DAZN a few minutes before kick-off.
“Hermoso needs a little time to be at his best, he can play, but putting him on today meant having a change to make.”
“He’ll come in and give us a hand, like Hummels. I’m confident, maybe it would have been better to make them debut at home.”
“The match? Even the numbers tell us that Genoa makes you play in their own half, you just have to not lose the ball.”
“I like playing with three at the back, you can alternate these players. It’s right to give minutes to El Shaarawy, after a difficult start it’s now right to give him confidence.”
“Totti? His words always make noise. Today we think about the match. I say he would give an arm for me and I would give an arm for him.”
Still searching for their first win of the season, Roma will visit Genoa at Stadio Luigi Ferarris for Serie A's Sunday lunchtime kickoff.
Needing three points to boost his troops before their Europa League campaign kicks off next week, Daniele De Rossi would have hoped for a more straightforward fixture following the international break.
As Roma's new boys are still settling in - and their coach seems unsure how to use them - Genoa can beat their capital counterparts again. For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
